Proceedings of an International Year of Mountains - Australian Alps ...

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70000 Number of visitors in snow free period 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Year Figure 3. Growth in summer tourism to the Kosciuszko alpine area 1977–2000. (Worboys. 1978; Johnston S. and Pickering 2001). Estimate for 1990-91 only includes people spending a half-day or longer in alpine area, and thus underestimates total numbers (Virtanen 1993). Characteristics of Tourism Winter tourism to the alpine area involves snow boarding, ice climbing, cross-country skiing and independent snow camping, with most people accessing the area from the adjacent subalpine resorts (Buckley et al. 2000; Pickering et al. 2002). Alpine skiing based in the ski resorts is the dominant recreation activity for the park. Tourism to the alpine area during the snow-free period is also very popular and involves a greater range of activities and areas. Popular activities include day walks, often to the summit of Kosciuszko (81% of visitors); sightseeing (10%); bike riding (3%); camping; (2%); and other pursuits such as running, late season snowpatch skiing, photography, painting, rock climbing, abseiling, fishing, and educational activities (collectively 4% of visitors to the area) (Johnston, S. and Pickering 2001). During the snow-free period, tourists tend to access the alpine area from just two sites: the top of the Crackenback Chairlift at Thredbo Village (68%), and the road-head at Charlotte Pass (31%). Recreationists with more detailed local knowledge also utilise the Snowy River Valley via Guthega. Within the alpine area itself the most popular walk is from the Crackenback Chairlift to the summit of Mt Kosciuszko, with around 16,000 people undertaking the 10 km return trip along the raised metal walkway to Rawson Pass and then on to the summit. Many people do not complete the full walk, but turn back before the first lookout (34%), or stop once they can see Mt Kosciuszko (10%). Eleven percent turn off the track and descend into the subalpine along the Dead Horse Gap walk (Arkle 2000). The most popular days for visiting the alpine area during the snow-free period are the main public holidays (Christmas, New Year, the Australia Day Weekend in January, and Easter). On any given day at these times around 1500 people visit the area, with 700 reaching the summit of Mt Kosciuszko. The next busiest times are weekends, particularly during the school holidays, when around 234 people per day visit the summit. Low visitation days are during school time, when only around 134 people per day visit the summit (Arkle 2000). There is considerable variation in usage patterns within a day. This is particularly apparent on the summit of Mt Kosciuszko, with about half of all tourists (48%) arriving between 1200 and 1330 hours. As a result there is crowding, resulting in people spreading out onto rehabilitated and natural areas and damaging native vegetation (Arkle 2000). 128 Celebrating Mountains – An International Year of Mountains Conference Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia
Benefits of Tourism Tourism is big business in the Snowy Mountains, and it benefits local towns and a range of tourism ventures. It is an important source of employment, providing seasonal (winter and summer) work for a large number of casual workers, and jobs for a smaller permanent core of employees. There is bipartisan political support for tourism, with an expectation that tourism will continue to increase. Equally, it is viewed that the NSW NPWS will manage tourism in an ecologically sustainable manner. The effective management of tourism to the park is critical for the wellbeing of the local economy and a sustainable tourism industry (Good 1992). Poor leadership and unmanaged tourism can threaten a financially and ecologically sustainable tourism industry. Sustainable Tourism: The Conservation Management Challenge There have been major gains for conservation in the alpine area in the last century (Worboys and Pickering, 2002c). This has been to the major advantage of the tourism industry, given that it has underpinned the tourism and recreation values of Kosciuszko National Park. (Worboys and Pickering 2002b). However, management is a continuous process that operates in a dynamic environment. Since the last major planning statement was produced for the alpine area in 1993, there appears to have been a steady growth in visitor numbers and activities, and a resultant increase in associated environmental impacts. The current major challenge for the alpine area is to ensure that tourism is ecologically sustainable. Impacts of Tourism Tourism to the alpine area is having a range of negative environmental impacts. Direct impacts include: compaction of soil; erosion; trampling of vegetation; urine and faecal contamination of waterways, particularly the glacial lakes; disturbance to wildlife; noise pollution; and increased feral animal activity (Edwards 1977; Keane et al. 1979; Hardie 1993; Virtanen 1993; Good and Grenier 1994; Good 1995; CDT 1997; Parr Smith and Polley 1998; Arkle 2000; Buckley et al. 2000; Scherrer and Pickering 2001; Pickering et al. 2002). Some management infrastructure provided to facilitate tourism, such as walking tracks and huts, is also having impacts. These include compaction of soil, clearing of vegetation, assisting the introduction of alien plants, leaching of nutrients into adjacent areas, and visual impacts (Virtanen 1993; Good and Grenier 1994; Johnston F. and Pickering 2001a; Pickering et al. 2002). The spread of weeds is a serious issue for the alpine area. Gravel roads and walking tracks, combined with regular pedestrian and vehicle (bike and motor vehicle) disturbance, have been shown to favour weeds such as yarrow (Achillea millefolium), white clover (Trifolium repens), browntop bent (Agrostis capillaris), flat weed (Hypochoeris radicata), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), and pellet clover (Trifolium ambiguum) (Mallen-Cooper 1990; Johnston, F. and Pickering 2001a, 2001b; Pickering et al. These proceedings; Hill and Pickering Draft manuscript). Research has shown that weeds readily colonise gravel track verges and road disturbance sites. This results in a brightgreen weed verge commonly found on parts of the gravel-based and paved tourist walking track system in the alpine area. It is a green “fuse” of weed introductions to the very core of the alpine area. Whilst the existing weed problem is bad enough, it is potentially being made worse with current NSW NPWS gravel track construction activities being made in the name of tourism development works. Such works could potentially be exacerbating the problem, while alternative raised steel mesh walkway techniques have demonstrated their weed free success (Pickering et al. This proceedings; Pickering and Hill Unpublished data). Given that weeds are still spreading in areas of natural and human disturbance in the alpine area, (Mallen-Cooper 1990; Johnston F. and Pickering 2001a, 2001b; Pickering et al. This proceedings; Hill and Pickering Draft manuscript), limiting the spread of these weeds should be the primary conservation goal of management. We can also state the obvious. Limiting the spread of new tracks and of erosion areas caused through overuse, and preventing trampling disturbance to the most sensitive of the plant communities, such as the wetland and short alpine herbfield, is critical. Human waste is also an important issue, as it contributes to increased nutrification and contamination of pristine waterways and has negative impacts on the tourism experience. Temporary toilets at Rawson Pass have helped to deal with some of the problems of human waste, but not adequately (Leary 2000). The Celebrating Mountains – An International Year of Mountains Conference Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia 129
Page 1 and 2: The Australian Alps And The Great E
Page 3 and 4: Conservation corridors globally are
Page 5 and 6: Figure 1. The Great Escarpment of E
Page 7 and 8: Figure 2. Three indicative maps ill
Page 9 and 10: Biodiversity conservation sampling
Page 11 and 12: In response to a rural environment
Page 13 and 14: National benefits of a continental
Page 15 and 16: Pianka, E.R. and Schall, J.J. (1981
Page 17 and 18: Day One - Mountains For Tourism Ce
Page 19 and 20: Management Of Tourism In The Kosciu
Page 21 and 22: Figure 1. Mt Kosciuszko alpine area
Page 23: Summit Road constructed. Vehicles t
Page 27 and 28: track, by comparison, inhibits the
Page 29 and 30: Future Management Of Sustainable To
Page 31 and 32: Virtanen, S. (1993). Towards Conser
Page 33 and 34: Managing The Overland Track As A Su
Page 35 and 36: 1 Table 1- Overnight walker registr
Page 37 and 38: 3 Table 2 Origin of private parties
Page 39 and 40: Information gathered from Overland
Page 41 and 42: References Byers. M (Feb 1996) Tour
Page 43 and 44: Tourism Value Of The Australian Alp
Page 45 and 46: Price 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Pr
Page 47 and 48: Table 1 - Observed and Predicted vi
Page 49 and 50: To calculate the minimum ‘plausib
Page 51 and 52: References Auslig (2002), http://ww
Page 53 and 54: Can The Mountains Survive Without T
Page 55 and 56: The tourism business A study in 200
Page 57 and 58: Poor accommodation choices Poor qu
Page 59 and 60: Day Two - Mountains Of Meaning Cele
Page 61 and 62: Land Affinities Of The Mountain Abo
Page 63 and 64: FIGURE 1 Extract of Howitt’s (190
Page 65 and 66: Traditional Yaitmathang land affini
Page 67 and 68: Keepers of Yaitmathang traditions T
Page 69 and 70: Why are there no Yaitmathang today?
Page 71 and 72: Carr, S. 1962. The discovery of the
Page 73 and 74: Alps Mining - Did We Really Get Ove
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would seem likely that high country
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A Chinese Presence Barry McGowan Th
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On a subsequent visit to the site I
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Conclusion The 1850s and 1860s saw
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Building as Landscape Geoff Ashley
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Forestry Landscapes A number of pla
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Case Study 2: Ski Resort Landscapes
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Illawong Lodge has historical and s
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Figure 2 The historic association o
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Figure 4 The relationship between v
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